


A Happy Ending Depends on Where the Story Stops

by NotYoshihide



Category: Persona 3, Persona Series
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Family Loss, Female Persona 3 Protagonist and Male Persona 3 Protagonist are Codependent, Female Persona 3 Protagonist and Male Persona 3 Protagonist are Twins, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Persona 3 Spoilers, Persona 3: The Answer, Sibling Love, Suicidal Thoughts, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:54:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28893246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotYoshihide/pseuds/NotYoshihide
Summary: Kotone and Makoto Yuuki were inseparable. Since their parents died the two only had each other. They were always at each other's side, two halves of one whole. No matter what happened, they'd always be there for each other.After a year at Port Tatsumi Island forging bonds that will never be broken and fighting to save the world, the two were ready to make the ultimate sacrifice. They would sacrifice their lives and prevent The Fall. Together in life; together in death. But when the time came, rather than share the burden, Makoto took it all upon himself and left his older sister alone.Now, on the day of the Dorm's closing, Kotone Yuuki faces, for the first time, the prospect of a life without her little brother.But she can't help but think a life without her other half is not a life worth living.A rewrite of The Answer where Female Persona 3 Protagonist is the main character and driving force of the Abyss of Time.
Relationships: Aigis & Metis (Persona Series), Female Persona 3 Protagonist & Male Persona 3 Protagonist, Female Persona 3 Protagonist & Metis, Female Persona 3 Protagonist & Takeba Yukari, Female Persona 3 Protagonist & Takeba Yukari & Yamagishi Fuuka, Female Persona 3 Protagonist & Yamagishi Fuuka, Female Persona 3 Protagonist/Male Persona 3 Protagonist
Comments: 11
Kudos: 31





	1. The End of The Journey, the Beginning of The Answer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kotone Yuuki laments the loss of her younger brother Makoto.

Her little brother was gone.

Kotone was supposed to protect Makoto, it had always been that way ever since that night on Moonlight Bridge. A big sister, even a big sister by mere minutes, was still supposed to protect her younger brother.

And she'd failed.

The twins had done their best that night, fighting side by side against Nyx. They could prevent the fall, use the power within them to seal the great Death away. Not just the power within them, but the power they drew from the friendships they'd formed over the past year. They would do it even if it was the last thing they'd ever do. Literally.

But when the time came, Makoto pushed her away. He took her half of Death Itself from her and made himself the seal, leaving her devastated.

Leaving her alone.

What hurt the most was the month after their battle with Nyx. Everyone had lost their memories of the fight, their year together, the links they'd forged. But not her. Not him.

She did her best to act 'normal'. To act like her brother getting weaker and weaker wasn't anything to worry about. To act like seeing him holding on by his fingertips, just until graduation day, wasn't tearing her up inside. To not yell and shout and scold him for taking this responsibility all by himself.

For leaving her behind.

"You've protected me all our lives. Let me protect you. Just this once," he had said.

She couldn't argue with that.

It wasn't until graduation day that the rest of SEES remembered. She had to almost carry him to the roof where Aigis, the first to reawaken her memories, was waiting. Kotone laid her brother down on the mechanical girl's lap and sat next to them, holding his hand. She could still feel the tears she had shed stinging her cheeks.

That has been three weeks ago.

Whenever she closed her eyes Kotone remembered the last moments she'd spent with him. After that day they had brought him back to the dorm, and feared the worst. The next morning those fears became reality and Kotone lost a piece of herself.

After that, Kotone fell into a deep depression. She had taken to sleeping in Makoto's room. Everyone else had grown used to the twins ignoring the rules about the gendered floors and they certainly weren't going to object now. Not when she could be heard crying herself to sleep on some nights.

But then she began seeing the same dream night after night. She was chasing after him, calling Makoto's name… but Kotone could never catch up.

After their parents died she had promised to protect him. Taking care of him was her reason for living. She made it her _purpose_ for living. Now that promise was gone… unfulfilled.

If only there was a way for her not to feel this pain. To turn off her feelings. If she was a machine like Aigis, maybe she wouldn't feel this way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted more of the Female Persona 3 Protagonist being twins with the Male Persona 3 Protagonist, but there's very little opportunity to write about them that isn't a rewrite of the game itself which others have already done/are doing. And they're doing it well!
> 
> So I began to think of vignettes I could write about them in between major events in the game when I realized The Answer was so obvious. Literally, The Answer.
> 
> If you like this premise, please let me know in the comments below. I've a few fics kicking around, and if there's excitement for this one I'll prioritize it!


	2. The Last Afternoon at the Dorm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Most of SEES get together to turn in their evokers even though a depressed Kotone keeps bringing down the mood.

Mitsuru senpai was shutting down the dorm. The dorm's purpose was a clandestine base of operation for SEES, and now that SEES was no longer needed, neither was there dorm. Closing the dorm made the squad's disbanding finally feel real. It was the end of their Journey.

Kotone sat on the corner of the couch in the lounge, her knees curled towards her and a pillow hugged to get chest. Ken sat on the opposite end with Koromaru sitting beside him on the floor. The child was idly petting the dog behind the ears to the canine's delight. Kotone watched and Koromaru gave her a little bark. He was always an intuitive animal and she forced a smile to appease his concern.

"Oh, Yukari-chan! It's me. Um… are you coming today?" Kotone overheard Fuuka calling the other girl on the phone.

Yukari Takeba. When they had first met, Kotone had greatly disliked Yukari. She was loud and bossy, her guarded disposition to the twins' sudden appearance coming off as rude. Kotone's animosity only grew worse when Yukari became all too attached to Makoto.

But as the year went on Yukari grew on Kotone. Her father had died when she was younger, just like the twins. Unlike the twins, though, Yukari's mother had lived only to become a mess in the aftermath. She involved herself in various frivolous relationships and cared not for Yukari's well being. Kotone didn't want to think about what it would have been like for her and Makoto if one of their parents had survived only to emotionally implode afterwards.

As the year progressed Kotone only got to know Yukari better. They had a shared fashion sense, they liked the same sweets, they even had similar tastes in boys. Although Kotone still warned the other girl off her brother, of course. Including Fuuka, the three second years had formed a strong bond that could never be broken.

She'd even go so far as to call Yukari her best friend.

"I know… but…" Fuuka didn't seem to be making much headway with getting Yukari to come. Kotone recalled that Yukari had said something about cram school.

"Yukari-chan isn't coming after all," she informed the group.

"Sanada-san said he's busy at the gym, so I doubt he'll be here in time either," Ken added.

"Man, what's up with those two? The dorm's closing down today! With all our memories of this place, you'd think they'd want to see it off, right?" Junpei added from his seat on the stool across the coffee table. Koromaru must have agreed because he made a distressed whimper. Ken leaned over and began scratching behind the dog's ears.

"It can't be helped. Everyone had started down their own chosen path. It's a good thing," Mitsuru said as she stood up and crossed her arms in her signature fashion.

"I don't blame them," Kotone said, finally speaking for the first time this morning. She uncurled her legs and sat up properly. "I wouldn't want to be here if I felt I had a future…"

"Kotone-chan, don't say that. You have so much to look forward to," Fuuka said almost immediately. It was all the auburn haired girl could do to give her friend a weak smile.

"Well said, Fuuka," Mitsuru said with a nod, placing her hand on Kotone's shoulder. "I know just how strong you are, Yuuki-chan." Everyone kept saying these things to her, but they all sounded hollow in her ears.

"Still, I seem to only be getting busier and busier, if I didn't have to reclaim these, I might not have been able to justify coming either."

Their evokers. The last ties to their last year together. There was a metal briefcase on the coffee table, the kind that screamed 'dangerous materials inside'. These gun-shaped objects were used to summon their persona, a representation of the sea of souls, collective unconscious, memetic thoughts of humanity.

"So we finally got to give up our evokers," Junpei said dejectedly. "I hate to let it go, but it's not like I've got a use for it anymore." He leaned over the table and turned the case towards him.

"Let's see, two… four… hey, wait. How many are there supposed to be?" Kotone rolled her eyes at the boy. It was times like this that Yukari's nickname for him made sense. Couldn't Stupei count the number of people on their team?

Obviously there was one for each organic member of SEES. There were ones for the two third years; Mitsuru and Akihiko senpai. One for each of the second year students; Junpei, Yukari, Fuuka, and the twins. One for Ken and a dog collar shaped one for Koromaru.

Then there was another for their fallen comrade. Shinjiro Aragaki, a young man who should have been a third year student like Mitsuru and Akihiko senpai. Instead he lay in a coma in the hospital, the victim of a gunshot from a mad man. Kotone had gotten close to Shinjiro before the incident, and his condition left her with yet another loss to add onto her suffering.

All these accounted for, there should be nine. To Kotone's surprise, the case only contained eight. She furrowed her before and looked up at the boy. Ok, maybe Junpei wasn't as Stupei after all.

"Aigis…" Fuuka said, causing Kotone to look up from the case at the new entrant.

Aigis, the mechanical girl who had been with Makoto and her at the end of it all. The mechanical girl had been at the beginning of it all, too. She was the one who has sealed Death Itself within Kotone and her brother.

Kotone didn't know how Aigis worked. She was a machine, but she also had a psyche strong enough to manifest a persona. Did that mean she had a soul? If it had been explained to her, she hadn't paid attention.

What Kotone did know was that Aigis's attempt at defeating the harbinger of The Fall had succeeded at the expense of the twins' parent's lives. After that Aigis needed to seal the primal force of nature and came up with a novel idea. Split Death Itself between the two children; part of it in Makoto and part in Kotone. If the two parts could be kept separate, it would be just one more obstacle to The Fall.

Unfortunately for Aigis and her plan, the twins were inseparable. It hardly mattered that the two halves were split when the two were already one whole.

One night when the three of them were in Makoto's room Aigis had postulated the twins were inseparable because they each had a half of Death Itself inside of them. It was trying to be one again and pushing the two of them towards each other. After Aigis had left the idea troubled Kotone.

"Don't worry about it," Makoto had said to her in his usual deadpan. "We'd be by each other's side no matter what."

And just like that, Kotone had stopped wondering.

To the outside world it seemed like Kotone was the one who took care of her little brother. She was peppy and sociable, thrust into the position of shielding her stoic, emotionally distant little brother. Her energy prevented the younger twin from receding into a shell of depression.

But the truth was Kotone's bright smile was nothing more than a mask. She put on a happy face so one of them seemed well adjusted, and thus the world didn't pity them. But it was an act. In private she needed her brother to reassure her that they could handle anything life could throw at then so long as they were together.

And now that they weren't, Kotone wasn't sure she could handle life at all. 

"I believe this is all of them," Aigis said as she put the gun into the table with a clatter. Kotone hadn't seen her brother's evoker since they'd brought him home. She hadn't even thought about it. Seeing it again brought forth another wave of grief.

Kotone stood from the couch to go to Aigis's side and the artificial girl accepted Kotone into her arms with a hug.

"I'd forgotten. You had Makoto's for safe keeping," Mitsuru said in a glum voice.

"Aigis…" Kotone said, her voice breaking.

"It is alright to cry if you need to, Kotone-chan." Aigis placed a comforting hand on Kotone's head, stroking her auburn hair.

Silence filled the room as Kotone held back sobs. "H-hey, c'mon. Don't get all gloomy again. I don't think this is the way he would have wanted to see this end." Junpei said, breaking the silence with something actually intelligent for once.

"I'm sorry, you're right. We all said our goodbyes to him." Kotone could hear Ken shuffling awkwardly on the couch. "But I still wonder, why did it happen? The doctors didn't find anything wrong with him afterwards. It just seemed like he fell asleep, didn't it?"

"Kotone-chan, do you know why he ended up like that? I mean, you were there with him… in that last battle." Fuuka's voice grew softer as she realized the gravity of her question.

Kotone took a breath and disengaged herself from Aigis's hug. "He… Makoto just used up all of himself. He was trying to… he said he wanted to protect me." She couldn't find the right words to make them understand.

Aigis placed her arm around Kotone and the human rested her head on the robot's shoulder. Despite her metallic exterior, Aigis's shoulder did not feel uncomfortable.

Kotone envied Aigis. She was a machine. She didn't have feelings. She wasn't suffering like Kotone was. Kotone wished she could become an emotionless machine like Aigis.

What's more, Aigis knew what to do with her life. All the protectiveness Aigis had split between Makoto and Kotone was now directed solely on Kotone. Even without Makoto, Aigis still had her prime directive for living. But for Kotone, without Makoto to care for, she didn't know what to do with herself.

So what was the point of her anymore?

"We seem to have gotten on the wrong track," Makoto said in her strongest 'dorm mom' voice. "Today is not meant to be a sad occasion. I've ordered excellent sushi for us all. The same as before actually. We may not have been able to get everyone together, but we should all have dinner here tonight."

"That would be great!" Ken said with all the exuberance of an eleven year old.

"You got that sushi again? Suh-weet! No objections here," Junpei added. He turned to Kotone and Aigis.

"You're gonna join us, right you two?" For a moment Kotone wasn't sure how to respond. On the one hand, hadn't felt the energy to be sociable for quite some time. But on the other, if there was one thing that could cheer her up, it was food.

Before Kotone could make up her mind Aigis answered for her. "Of course, we wouldn't miss spending time with you all, isn't that right Kotone-chan?"

"Yeah. You know I can't resist a good meal," Kotone said to the big smiles of everyone. She looked at Aigis's smiling face in particular.

She really was lucky to have Aigis there for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There isn't much room for deviation at the beginning of The Answer, so I stuck close to the transcript of the game for this chapter. I'll probably do it for the next chapter, too, but after that I'll probably write my own dialogue instead. The beginning part up through Metis's arrival need to happen the way they do in order for the plot to even kick off, after all.
> 
> I was originally going to write Kotone as much more bitter and angry, similar to how Yukari is for most of the game, but the more I wrote the more Kotone evolved into a borderline suicidal mess. I think If Aigis weren't there to constantly check up on her, she'd have tried something drastic.
> 
> I hope you all enjoying my take on a twins au. I'm still not sure what will happen to Kotone at the end. She might end up trying to go back in time, or maybe she'll learn to move on. Or maybe she'll finally understand that Aigis is more than just a machine?
> 
> Anyways, leave a comment and let me know what you think! I'm fueled by feedback, good or bad!


	3. A Strange Sensation at Midnight Sushi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group enjoyed their final meal at the dorm in style with extravagant sushi, but when the clock strikes midnight an uneasy feeling fills the room.

“The number of Apathy Syndrome cases is down from last month, which seems to mark an end to the strange illness. However, surveys show that the number of people who report serious stress in everyday life has not decreased. According to research carried out by the Ministry of Health and Welfare…” Mitsuru turned the volume down on the television. For lack of interest in anything else, the dorm’s television was tuned into the news.

Junpei had popped open his phone, “Whoa, when’d it get so late?” Kotone looked up at the lounge’s clock and was surprised as everyone else that it was already 23:57.

“It’s almost midnight,” Mitsuru said. “It’s hard to believe we’ve spent the evening doing almost nothing. Sitting here like this reminds me of those days… Perhaps that’s why.”

It was true the six of them had not done much that evening. After the sushi had arrived there was the usual excitement of high-quality sushi. Kotone and Fuuka set the lounge table with plates and chopsticks while Ken and Junpei unstacked the massive sushi trays to reveal the deliciousness beneath. Kotone even heard Junpei scolding Ken for already grabbing a piece despite not having a plate. Although she didn’t blame the boy. Sushi was sushi, after all.

“I think I can understand,” Fuuka said. “I have so many memories of this lounge that I find myself spending time here for no reason.”

“It’s the same for me. When I’m here, I think about when we were still fighting. It’s strange… since my memories of that time are more painful than happy.” Kotone looked up at Ken sitting across from where she was curled up on the couch next to Fuuka, the boy’s eyes both nostalgic and sad.

“Well, all that stuff aside, doesn’t something feel weird to you guys?” Junpei cocked his head to the side, making an expression like an old man. “I’ll be walking around, and people act like as long as they’re happy right now, nothing else matters. Those stupid stories that Strega spread are still out there, ya’know? It makes me think, ‘is this what we almost died to protect?’”

“You’re sounding like an old man,” Kotone said with the closest thing to a smile she’d displayed the whole day. Ken picked up on the grin and pushed Junpei’s shoulder teasingly.

“Hey, quit it,” Junpei said embarrassed. He pushed Ken back just as playfully as he’d be pushed.

“That’s out of our hands, I’m afraid. We prevented the Fall, but we can’t reform society,” Mitsuru said, always the voice of reason. If only there was a way to change peoples’ hearts. Kotone felt she needed hers changed, for sure. Although thinking about it, she felt like she didn’t have a heart anymore, not with her treasure gone.

“Yeah, I guess. But still…” Junpei’s voice trailed off as he leaned back into the chair, pushing his hat over his eyes slightly.

“… and that’s the weather. At the tone, the time will be midnight.” The conversation stopped as everyone noticed the anchorwoman on the news bring up the dreaded word. There was a pall in the air, even so many days since the Dark Hour had stopped. It was still on everyone’s mind as the television beeped down to April 1st.

On the dot the clocks changed to 00:00, just as the news had foretold, but something was different. The air felt heavier, and Kotone’s eyes lost focus for just a moment. She could swear she felt the earth move and something ring in her ears. Her head shot up and her legs unfurled, launching into a standing position. From how everyone else was standing in alertness, it seemed they all felt it, too.

“What was that!?” Ken exclaimed, the most surprised out of everyone. Koromaru barked alongside the boy’s shock.

“Midnight… it can’t be. Is it the Dark Hour again!?” Fuuka locked eyes with Kotone, her face a mirror of Kotone’s fear.

“It can’t be. We sealed it!” Kotone said, her voice audibly wavering. The Dark Hour was gone. That had to be true. Makoto had _died_ to make sure that happened. Was it not enough? Did he sacrifice himself in vain? A deep pit in her heart intruded into her thoughts, a pit filled with an answer she’d come to over the past month.

She shouldn’t have let him sacrifice himself alone. She should be dead, too.

Junpei sprinted to the window, tossing aside the curtain, and almost pressing his face against the glass. The room held its breath.

“Nah… everything’s fine out there!” Junpei’s body untensed like a deflating balloon. A relieved balloon.

“Wait, the news.” Aigis drew everyone’s attention to the television.

“Good evening. It is now March 31st. Here is a recap of the news from the 30th…” Aigis turned back to the rest of us, her mechanical brow furrowed.

“The 31st was yesterday, right? Did the anchor misread the date?” Yesterday? Yesterday was the 30th. No, wait, Aigis was right, since it had passed midnight, today was April 1st and yesterday was the 31st.

“Maybe she said the wrong date?” Kotone offered.

“Sheesh, is that all? Even they make mistakes every once in a while. It’s nothing.” Junpei returned from the window crouching by the table to pet a still alert Koromaru and popping another piece of sushi into his mouth.

Ken reached into his pocket, popping open his phone. “Weird… my cell says it’s the 31st, too.”

Ignoring the child, Junpei swallowed his sushi and stood back up. “Well, looks like a false alarm.”

“So far, I’d agree,” Mitsure added, crossing her arms in the way she does when she’s serious.

“But something felt… off.” Fuuka looked at Kotone and the auburn-haired girl nodded an agreement.

Across the room Junpei yawned loudly. “What a lame finish to our last day in the dorm.”

“It is quite late, although we are well used to staying up this late, perhaps we should cease our celebrations for the night.” Aigis gave a placating smile to everyone, although Kotone could see she specifically aimed it at her.

Under the gaze Kotone crossed her arms over her chest. Not in the strong, confident way Mitsuru crossed her arms. This was more like Kotone was trying to give herself a hug. “Um… if no one minds, I’d like to go finish packing.”

Aigis tilted her head. “Did you not finish packing earlier this week? We are to move out tomorrow morning.”

“I did… finish packing my things. But I need to put the rest of his stuff in boxes.” Kotone rubbed her own arm and looked down at the floor.

“Then allow me to assist you, it will be much more efficient if we work together.” Aigis took a step towards the dorm stairs when Mitsuru interjected.

“Aigis, I think Kotone-chan would prefer to finish this on her own.” Kotone looked up at the older girl who gave her an understanding nod. Over the past Mitsuru had eventually opened up to Kotone about her own troubles with her family, and it seemed Mitsuru had grown to understand Kotone quite well in return. Kotone suspected Mitsuru wanted to be the big sister figure in Kotone’s life, but inwardly Kotone resisted that label. _She_ was a big sister, and her own failure as one made her wary of the idea.

“Yes… thank you Mitsuru senpai,” Kotone said with another false smile. “Well, good night.”

Everyone wished Kotone goodnight as she made her way up the stairs and she could hear Mitsuru say something about contacting Yukari and Akihiko before she got out of earshot.

Getting to the fourth floor and walking to the end of the hall to her brother’s room, Kotone felt a painful sense of déjà vu. The path was second nature to her; you get home from school and you walk to your room. Sure, it was Makoto’s room, but it was as much her room as hers was his.

Once inside she looked at the various things still set about and the half-packed boxes. Because she had taken to sleeping in his room, she had packed her room a while ago. It had been quite easy; the two were more used to sharing a room and thus only had half a room’s worth of things each. Now that she had to take inventory of all the things that solidly belonged to her brother, Kotone felt there was not enough.

These were the few things to remember her brother by, and it was _just not enough_.

Kotone sank to her knees and began sobbing once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter that's mostly a transcript of the game. From here on out, though, I'll be introducing (my version) or Metis and rearranging a lot of dialogue. So consider this the major divergent point of the story from canon, and how things would have played out with the Abyss of Time had the P3 Protags were twins!


	4. An Intruder From Below

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious door opens in the floor of the lounge and an intruder emerges. Claiming to want to keep Kotone safe, her words seem suspect as she almost kills everyone else in the dorm.

Kotone fell on her back, all the wind knocked out of her. Her whole body ached, and she was having trouble breathing. She could taste blood.

But she didn’t care.

None of that hurt as bad as what she saw in front of her.

Makoto was standing there, legs shoulder width apart and arms held out. He had dropped his sword but was still facing down the… well it could only be described as a giant eye.

Makoto! She could feel her lips move but she couldn’t tell if any words were actually coming out. She couldn’t get up, but she stretched a hand out to him. He just looked over his shoulder at her and just like her, his lips moved but no words came out.

Then there was a blast of sound and… Kotone’s eyes snapped open.

She lay on her brother’s bed, still dressed in her clothes with her headphones cast onto either side of her head. She must have fallen asleep while packing. Even though her posture faintly resembled the cliche image of a chalk outline, Kotone didn’t move. She just stared at the ceiling as she processed what she had just awoken from.

At least it was a different dream this time. Rather than chasing her brother in a featureless void, it was the night they had faced Nyx. What was odd was that she didn’t remember that night. Even now, after that dream, Kotone couldn’t recall how accurate it was. She thought about that night often, but the actual events of what happened fizzled into… a haze. She didn’t remember the events; she remembered the _feeling_.

“Kotone-chan!” Now the auburn-haired girl sat up. “Kotone-chan, are you awake!?” Fuuka was knocking at her door and her voice was panicked.

“Uh… yeah. Yes, I’m awake. You can come in, Fuuka-chan.” Kotone swung her legs over the side of the bed, running her hand over her face in an attempt to induce more alertness.

“Quick, we need you!” Fuuka’s hands were clasped in the way she did when she was worried… or using Juno.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Kotone stood fully. What running her hand over her face had failed, the sight of her friend in such intense panic accomplished. “Are we under attack?” Fuuka didn’t need to answer, her face said it all.

The blast of sound that had woken her up. It wasn’t just in her dream; that had actually happened. She ran with Fuuka back down to the lounge.

“The lobby floor opened up, and something came out!” Fuuka said. Before she could continue Kotone was bounding down the stairs, taking them two or three at a time. Fuuka never did that sort of thing and was left behind.

Perhaps she had made the right choice, because when Kotone reached the lobby floor she only barely missed getting struck with the body of Aigis. What could have the power to toss Aigis with such force that she dented the wall!? Kotone shifted into a fighting stance and looked at Aigis’s assailant.

“Kotone! Be careful!” Mitsuru and the others were against the far wall. Junpei and Ken looked haggard while Mitsuru and Koromaru did their best to cover for them despite not looking much better. “It’s… it’s not human!”

“Who are you and what have you done to my friends!?” Kotone was doing her best to take in the room. Like Fuuka said, the floor had opened up to reveal stairs that Kotone was certain had never been there before. _Someone_ would have noticed a mad scientist style trap door.

“You’re… Kotone Yuuki?” The intruder sounded human enough. She wore what looked like a black bodysuit with a skirt that reminded Kotone of a monarch butterfly. Her face was obscured by some sort of visor, through which Kotone could faintly see glowing eyes.

Glowing eyes. Her shoulders. Her feet. No, this was definitely not a human. “You’re just like Aigis…” Kotone said, dumbfounded. Aigis was supposed to have been the last Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon.

“Be careful! She’s way too strong without our personas.” Fuuka finally made it past the stairs and kneeled next to Aigis.

“I can still fight,” Aigis struggled to say as Fuuka helped her up. “I don’t need an evoker.”

A metal rod was suddenly embedded into the wall, with Aigis’s shoulder impaled upon it. Aigis and Fuuka both screamed, one in pain and the other in shock. The intruder had thrown the rod so fast Kotone hadn’t even seen it.

“Aigis! Stay still. Please. I can handle this.” Rage flared behind Kotone’s eyes at the sight of her mechanical guardian hurt like this. She turned back to the intruder but looked beyond her to Mitsuru. Locking eyes, she immediately glanced at the lounge coffee table, now split in two and tossed against the wall, then quickly back at Mitsuru. Besides the wasted sushi, there was a metal briefcase sitting beside it. All she had to do was nod for a plan to be agreed upon.

“Whoever you are, I will not let you hurt my friends and destroy our home!” Kotone lunged for the intruder and at the same time Mitsuru leapt for the metal case. Torn between keeping an eye on the others and a 50-kilogram girl launching herself at her, the intruder couldn’t react to either in time.

The two tumbled and Kotone heard Junpei shouting her name. He and Ken were down for the count; all the more reason to take this trespasser down. Kotone did all she could to pin the assailant to the ground, clawing at the visor while trying to use her whole weight to prevent the other’s arms from tossing her off.

“I do not want to hurt you,” the intruder said in an annoying monotone. She was probably telling the truth: If she could throw Aigis like a doll, she certainly could toss Kotone off her. But that didn’t matter, she had already hurt everyone else.

“Fuuka!” Mitsuru shouted for the teal-haired girl’s attention and tossed an evoker across the room at her with one hand. At the same time, she slid another across the floor to Kotone. “Kotone!”

Kotone rolled off the mechanical girl and grabbed the evoker off the ground. At the same time both Kotone and Fuuka raised the guns to their head and shouted.

“Persona!” Across the room Fuuka was enveloped in the information bubble formed by Juno while Orpheus burst free from Kotone’s subconscious.

“I don’t care if you don’t want to hurt me. You’ve done enough damage for today.” Kotone didn’t have a weapon; she’d packed her naginata long ago. Right now, she’d have settled for a long stick. It looked like she’d have to rely on Orpheus.

She wasn’t sure why she summoned Orpheus. She had a number of stronger personas she could have used. Surt or Melchizedek from her bonds with Junpei or Ken. Alilat or Helel from Mitsuru or Akihiko. Scathach or Cybele from Fuuka or Yukari. But right now, Orpheus was who she could think of.

The persona she shared with her brother.

“Fine,” the intruder said. There was a steely anger to her voice now. “I came here to take you away without harm, but If I must subdue you I will. Psyche!”

A persona resembling an empty ball gown with disembodied gloves appeared. Instead of a head or torso, a red butterfly hovered in its place. As far as persona went, this design was actually rather tame.

Kotone didn’t have time to admire it, though, as it rushed her. She instinctively crossed her arms in front of her and braced herself, but no hit came. Orpheus was blocking the attack with his lyre, pushing the other persona off and going on the offensive.

“Mighty Swing!” Kotone commanded. The two personas clashed between the two combatants.

“Give me a moment, I’ll scan her.” Fuuka’s voice echoed within the minds of SEES. “I… she really is strong! She’s got no weaknesses, and her abilities are off the charts!” It wasn’t the most reassuring thing to hear. Without any weaknesses to exploit, this was going to be a grudge match between Orpheus and her Psyche.

“Don’t resist and I won’t hurt you.” The sound of the two personas striking and blocking each other filled the lounge.

“Yeah? I can’t say the same thing for you. Agilao!” Kotone pointed at her opponent as Orpheus began building up fire in its hands.

“Kotone-chan, no! We’re still in the dorm!” Kotone covered her ears, despite knowing that Fuuka’s voice was inside her head. It made her feel better for how loud her friend was.

“Right, sorry. Uhm… Vorpal Blade!” Orpheus strummed its lyre and four swift slashes of Lewis Carroll energy burst forth. Two were blocked by Psyche, but the other two struck through her defenses.

“Ahh!” The intruder fell to her knees in pain. “Please… come with me. I will… keep you… safe.” She was sounding rather defiant for someone who was begging.

“I'm not going anywhere with you. Orpheus, finish her!” Kotone needed to end this here and now while she had the chance.

“Then… then you leave me… no choice.” The intruder stood up straighter and fire erupted from her joints.

“Oh no! Her abilities are skyrocketing! Kotone, I think she’s activating Orgia mode!” Fuuka was in panic.

“If you will not come with me, then I will make _here_ safe. All dangers will be eliminated.” The intruder began to glow in a faint ruby color. All the fatigue she exhibited before was gone and she looked better than ever. She shifted into an attack stance, but not at Kotone. Instead she turned to Junpei, Ken, and Koromaru still slumped against the back wall.

“Oh crap, this is gonna suck!” Junpei threw himself over Ken and Koromaru. Moving so fast it looked like she teleported, she suddenly held Junpei by the back of his head, slamming it against the wall. He was grunting in pain as she pushed his head so hard into the wall it dented the plaster. The only reason he wasn’t screaming was because of how tight she grasped him.

“No.”

It was barely a whisper, but the weight of her voice drowned out all other sounds in the room.

Kotone felt light. She was breathing, but the breaths weren’t hers. She was seeing, but the sight wasn’t hers. She was moving, but the steps weren’t hers.

“I won’t let anyone _else_ die!”

She was shouting, but the voice wasn’t hers.

“Me…ssi…ah…”

And then Kotone collapsed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we meet Metis. Just like their first fight on top of the dorm's roof, Orpheus is torn apart. But this time, it's not Thanatos? There's obvious differences in Metis's goal compared to the original, and I'm excited to see how this plays out. The fight scene is highly truncated because, well, describing turn-based combat is boring and repetitive. But there'll still be action sequences, don't worry.
> 
> As always, I am fueled by comments, reviews, and criticisms. So please, let me know what you thought of the story thus far and where you think this will be going! Any feedback I receive will inspire me to write more and more!


	5. Returning to the Velvet Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kotone is greeted by two very confused attendants and asks a very important question. She does not get an answer.

Kotone woke up on the floor of the lounge where she had collapsed. As her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, she realized the entire room was barren. It wasn’t just that there were no signs of her recent battle; there was absolutely nothing. No sofa, no table, the kitchenette was bare. There weren’t even any curtains on the windows.

Where is everyone? Kotone brought her hand to her throat; she could have sworn she had asked her question out loud, but no sounds came out of her mouth. Groggily she tried to stand up, the entire dorm felt… sideways. It was the only way to describe it.

A flicker of blue light drew her attention to the bare windows. No, it wasn’t a flicker. It was more like a flutter? Something blue had fluttered by the window and for some reason reminded Kotone of the night she and Makoto had returned to Iwatodai.

She didn’t have time to consider the blue fluttering, though. Through the bare windows shone the sickly yellow light of the moon. A full moon, far larger than it had any right to be. Larger than even the night they had fought Nyx. The night Makoto had left her behind.

It grew larger still and the dorm seemed to melt away. She was standing on top of Tartarus now, staring up at the yellow orb that slowly turned red. Blood began to drip from it in large, crimson globs. Each droplet splashed in huge ripples of red and black. Soon the blood was up to her knees and the disgusting mixture coated her with each drip.

She willed herself to move. To run away. To scream. To do _anything_. But she couldn’t. Her body wouldn’t move, her mouth wouldn’t open, she couldn’t even close her eyes. All she could do was stare up at the bleeding, encroaching moon as it coated her in its gruesome blood.

And then the moon blinked.

A woman was shrieking. No, that’s not right. Not shrieking. Singing. An ethereal opera accompanied by a piano.

“Oh, my! What a truly intriguing turn of events. Young Brother, it would appear we have a guest!” An energetic voice brought Kotone into an empty void. There was no moon. She wasn’t on Tartarus. Her body wasn’t dripping with the bloody tears of an abominable eye staring pure hatred at her.

All of it was replaced with the familiar sound of an elevator in perpetual motion and an eerie yet comforting song.

It was always hard to 'breathe' in the Velvet Room. The air was stale and oddly moist. The closest comparison was the canned air that was pumped into an airplane. The room _had_ oxygen, but it was more like it had been applied after the fact, rather than naturally part of the atmosphere.

“Surely you jest, Dear Sister. Were we to have new guests, the Master would be here to greet them. The only guests we are able to greet on our own are ones we’ve already had, and we both know what happened to our guests.” A timid voice helped return vision to Kotone’s eyes.

There, sitting on a round table covered with a familiar velvet tablecloth, sat her brother’s Velvet Room attendant, Elizabeth. “That is what makes this turn of events so intriguing! Please, attempt to keep up, Young Brother. Your guest seems to have returned to visit. Come! See for yourself if you do not believe the words of your Dear Sister.”

Her eyes must not have fully focused, because it seemed like her Velvet Room attendant Theodore blurred into existence to stand next to his sister. “Please, Dear Sister, I’ve grown wise to your jokes and pranks. My guest is… oh my. Here?” Theodore’s timid voice broke into the worried panic she had grown so used to.

“Kotone! She is here!” Just as quickly Theodore’s voice shifted to its quieter, contemplative tone. “How is she here?”

“This perplexes me, as well. Rather than ask me, perhaps you should ask your guest herself, hmm?” Elizabeth gestured towards Kotone while giving her brother a condescending look.

“I’m… in the Velvet Room?” Kotone asked, finding her voice again.

“Yes, yes! Oh, Kotone, are you unwell?” Theo knelt next to Kotone’s chair and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“What… why?” Kotone asked, rubbing her eyes. They felt raw and weary.

“That is what we were just discussing,” Elizabeth said, her voice gaining that mischievous undertones that had plagued both their brothers with so much worry.

“No, I mean why _now_?” Kotone asked, her voice growing more demanding. “Why am I here _now_? I have been trying to find the Velvet Room for weeks! I searched the Paulownia Mall for hours. I couldn’t find the door; I couldn’t even find my key! Where did you go?”

“We haven’t gone anywhere. The Velvet Room exists between Time and Space, Mind and Matter. It simply ‘exists’. The Velvet Room does not _go_ anywhere.” Theodore sounded baffled by her question.

“No, Theo, I mean why couldn’t I come _back_ to the Velvet Room? I needed you. Both of you!” Kotone turned somber as she recalled her previous attempts to return to the ethereal room. “Makoto _died_. He’s _gone_. I thought you, of all people, would care the most about it.” She looked at Elizabeth with pleading eyes.

“When a guest fulfills their contract, they no longer have a need for the services provided by the Velvet Room. Simple as that.” Elizabeth made a flourish with her hand as if she were holding the truth in her palm.

“So, what, we save the world and then you’re done with us?” Kotone asked, feeling hurt that she may just be a cosmic plaything.

“Ah, no, no, no,” Elizabeth wagged her finger. “It is when _you_ are done with _us_ that we are no longer available.”

“Well I wasn’t done with you! I needed to come back so I could--” Kotone was cut off by that same wagging finger.

“So you could do what? We offer no services to you that could return your brother to you. Indeed, returning him to the mortal realm is a problem for which I, myself, would love to find a solution. But that solution is not something that can be discovered here.” Elizabeth held her hands palm up at her shoulders as though she understood the idea of shrugging but had never actually attempted it before.

Kotone quieted down at that. She hadn’t really thought too hard about what she could accomplish from returning to the Velvet Room. In her desperation and despair after she lost Makoto, it just seemed like a possibility of hope. But now that she was here, she realized she had already known, deep down, what Elizabeth had just told her. She just didn’t want to believe it.

“I just… I don’t know what to do. What do I do now? What am I good for?” Kotone averted her gaze from Theodore and Elizabeth, utterly defeated. “What even is the point of… me?”

The question brought a silence to the Velvet Room. Even the ethereal singing seemed to grow softer in the heavy atmosphere. Kotone didn’t know how long the silence lasted; her thoughts spiraled around her question in a way that seemed like an instant and forever. Finally, Theodore broke the silence.

“Dear Sister, if she is here now, then perhaps she still needs our services? Perhaps we should contact the Master.” Theodore moved to stand next to Elizabeth with his back to Kotone, as if simply facing away from her meant Kotone could no longer hear him.

“Oh? You would have us summon the Master _now_? When he is with our older siblings, one of whom he has not spoken to in far, far too long of time? If you would like to be the one to interrupt him then please, by all means, Young Brother. I would relish the opportunity to witness what would unfold.” Theodore’s entire body tensed at his sister’s words and the little of his face Kotone could see was coated in fear.

“Ah. Right. No, I believe we can handle this ourselves.” Elizabeth smiled and patted her brother on his bellhop cap.

“That’s a good boy. Now, the first thing we must do is create a new contract for our guest. You know how to make that, don’t you Theo?” Elizabeth made another flourish with her hand and a pen materialized between her fingers.

“Yes, let me just… Oh. Hmm.” Theodore must have had it in his pocket or it was on the table or somehow Kotone had missed it, because he now held a large parchment in his hands that definitely wasn't there before. “Dear Sister, this appears to be the old contract.”

“Really?” Elizabeth’s voice rose in excitement. “This is truly, truly an intriguing turn of events then! A contract that is both, at the same time, fulfilled and unfulfilled? I do believe this has never happened before.” She was leaning over Theodore’s shoulder, craning her neck in a way that seemed… it wasn’t _wrong_ , per se. It was just not right, either.

Sometimes, when they thought the twins weren’t looking, The Velvet Siblings moved as though they weren’t quite used to their bodies. Like marionettes controlled by an unskilled puppeteer. Whenever Kotone tried to focus on these uncanny movements, the more her head hurt. She’d long since learned it best to not even try.

“This… I’m not sure I can read this anymore.” Kotone couldn’t see what was on the parchment, but she could see Theodore’s face. It had the unnaturalness that made her head hurt. “Do you think it’s because of the dual nature of our guests?”

“I would not dare to venture a guess, but if I did, I would think so! Oh, this is fascinating! The Master saw their fates flowing as one, but it is as though one side of a river kept going while the other simply dried up!” Elizabeth always had a ‘way’ with words, but this simile made Kotone feel sick.

“Are you calling my brother _dried up_?” Kotone asked bitterly. Elizabeth only smiled a Cheshire grin that made Kotone’s head hurt the more she focused on it.

“I didn’t say which side was which, now did I?” Elizabeth snatched the parchment from her brother’s hands and presented it and the pen to Kotone. To Kotone’s eyes, it looked like a perfectly normal piece of paper, exactly the same as the last time she and her brother had signed it. Only this time it wasn’t presented by Pharos.

“Sign right here,” Elizabeth said, waving a hand over her signature from before. It disappeared like it was unwriting itself. “Don’t worry, it’s the same as before. It just binds you to accepting full responsibility for your actions.” Theodore was trying to smile at her from behind his sister, but it just looked… off. All of him looked off. Were his arms always that long? His head so thin?

Kotone signed the parchment once again, effectively stroke for stroke as before. As soon as she finished Elizabeth pulled the parchment away from her and the pen disappeared from Kotone’s hand. Looking up at her and Theodore, everything that was ‘wrong’ with them before seemed to disappear. Any hint that they were anything but normal humans was gone and whatever uncanniness they had was nowhere to be seen.

“Perfect! Well then. We will be here if you need us, and I think you certainly _will_ need us.” Elizabeth hopped back onto the table. At some point the contract had disapparated to wherever it had been before.

“You can use your key to return, we’ll place a door somewhere you can easily reach.” Theodore gestured at Kotone’s hand where she felt the familiar weight of her blue, glowing key. It was a comfort to feel it again.

“Now, we won’t keep you any longer,” Elizabeth said. “The answer to your question awaits.”

“When you next visit, it will be of your own accord. We and our services will be ready and waiting for you,” Theodore said.

As Kotone’s eyes began to close into what felt like the first comfortable sleep she’d had in weeks, she could barely make out Theodore bowing and Elizabeth waving regally.

But what stuck out to her was that the Velvet Room, manifested for her and her brother as an elevator perpetually traveling up, seemed to instead be going down now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like going full horror with this one and, while I don't claim to be Mary Shelley, I am quite proud of what I got down. When writing about the Velvet Room and its attendants, I had the key word 'eldritch' in my mind. Hopefully I conveyed it. I also included a passing reference to a Velvet Room attendant OC I had from like, ten years ago. Don't worry, he will not be appearing! I just wanted to give 10 years ago me a shoutout.
> 
> As always, I am fueled by comments and criticisms. I'm currently writing this to get some writer's block funk out of my system, but if you all like where this is going enough, I'll focus on this a bit more. Thanks for reading!


End file.
